Red Wings win third straight vs. Sharks, 4-2

SAN JOSE, Calif.(AP) -- If the Detroit Red Wings could play
everyone else as well as they do against the San Jose Sharks
they wouldn't have to fight to make it to the playoffs.

Derek Meech scored a tiebreaking power-play goal early in the
third period and the Red Wings rallied from an early two-goal
deficit to beat the Sharks for the third straight time this
season, 4-2 Tuesday night.

"You always like to measure yourself up to the best in the
league," Meech said. "That's the position we've been in the past
couple of years. These guys are at the top of the league. Every
team is ready to play these guys all the time. We just have to
make sure now that we're ready to play every team that we come
across."

Dan Cleary, Henrik Zetterberg, and Patrick Eaves also scored for
the Red Wings, who lost eight of 11 games in between two wins in
San Jose.

Those kinds of struggles have left the Red Wings in a battle for
the playoffs after winning the Western Conference the past two
seasons. Detroit is tied for seventh in the conference after its
latest win.

"If you can do it against good teams why can't you do it every
night?" Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "That's what we have to
talk about. We have to do better every night."

Joe Thornton scored a pair of goals for the Sharks, who have
only two regulation losses in their past 12 games - both at home
against Detroit.

The Red Wings and Sharks have fought for the best regular-season
record in the conference the past two years. This season, they
are more likely to be first-round playoff opponents instead of
battling for the top seed. That would be bad news for San Jose,
which has not made it out of the second round the past four
seasons, including last year's first-round loss to Anaheim.

Detroit erased the two-goal deficit with two late scores in the
first period and then won it in the third. With Ryane Clowe in
the penalty box for boarding, Meech scored on a bad angle shot
from the side of the net that deflected in off goalie Evgeni
Nabokov to make it 3-2.

"I was just trying to throw it at him and see what happens,"
Meech said. "Luckily it went in, so it was nice."

Less than 5 minutes later, Eaves took a pass from the point from
Brian Rafalski and scored an easy goal to make it 4-2. The
Sharks couldn't score the rest of the way against Jimmy Howard,
who had 32 saves.

"I still think they are one of the best teams in the league,"
Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said. "We know how to beat them.
It's a matter of committing to a certain style."

This was San Jose's final home game for a month. The team starts
a six-game road trip on Thursday and then will be off for the
Olympic break before returning to host New Jersey on March 2.

Thornton got the Sharks off to a fast start by scoring his two
goals on rebounds of shots by Dany Heatley. Thornton had gone 15
regular-season games without scoring against Detroit before
breaking through twice in a span of 3:34.

The lead was short-lived for San Jose as Detroit scored twice in
just over 4 minutes to tie it late in the first. Cleary struck
first when he one-timed a centering pass from Valtteri Filppula
past Nabokov.

Then with the Red Wings on a two-man advantage when Rob Blake
was called for delay of game with Patrick Marleau already in the
box, Zetterberg knocked in a rebound of a shot by Tomas
Holmstrom to tie the game with 1:02 left in the first.

"We let them back into the game," Thornton said. "You give
skilled teams a 5-on-3 and they usually make you pay."

NOTES: Holmstrom returned to the lineup after missing 13 games
with a broken foot and had two assists. ... The Sharks were
without two of their usual defensemen with Dan Boyle (upper body
injury) missing his fifth straight game and Marc-Edouard Vlasic
(lower body injury) missing his second straight. ... The Sharks
honored their eight Olympians before the game. ... Detroit D
Niklas Kronwall did not play the third period because of an
injured ankle and will likely miss Wednesday's game in Anaheim.
... San Jose F Jamie McGinn was recalled from the minors and
played on the fourth line.